One Night, One Chance
by Jayden M. Perth
Summary: Marauders Era:rnOne girl, One boy, One ball...One story.


**Note: All characters mentioned in this fanfiction from the Harry Potter series are under the ownership of J.K. Rowling. **

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**OnE nIgHt, OnE cHaNcE**

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_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. I made it to Hogwarts alright, and Professor Dumbledore says that I will be in my 5th year. Studies are already difficult as I am a little behind because of the whole transfer student thing. I am doing alright though, and I have already made some friends. A girl in my dormitory by the name of Lily Evans is especially nice. _

_I hope to hear from you soon. Give my love to Zach, Bryan, Jeff, and yourselves. And because I will probably be staying here over Christmas break to catch up on schoolwork, Have a Happy Christmas._

_Love Always, Jay_

Folding the parchment, I flicked it with my wand and sealed the letter shut. I didn't bother telling them about the Christmas Ball that was happening over break, because they would bring me straight home. They were too overprotective to let me go to a social event where there were boys, even thoughI had turned 15 a couple weeks ago. I stood up from my bed and walked toward the window, stopping to look at my reflection in the body-length mirror at the far end of the room. A tall teenage girl stared back at me, straight black hair coming down to her chin, and grey eyes with a hint of mischeviousness. This was me of course.

Giving the letter to my barn owl, Merlin, I returned to my bed to prepare for the ball as he flew off into the setting sun.

The dress I had picked out for the ball lay on my bed, ready to be worn. I slipped into the strapless dress, the golden fabric fitting my frame perfectly. The ripples in the dress glinted as I passed the sunlight filled window to find my gloves. White lace gloves were pulled up to my elbows and a ribbon was placed into my hair, transforming it into a messy but elegant bun. I didn't bother with makeup, except for a bit of eyeshadow and lipstick. My feet came out of my slippers and into a pair of white heels with a gold buckle on the outside edge of each. A pendant of my mothers replaced theusual silver chain thatI wore around my neck.Lastly, I wrapped a crimson velvet cloak around my shoulders, tying the golden string at my neck. I checked the mirror to make sure that everything was perfect, and then left the other girls and retreated to the Common Room.

I had no date to wait for, so I quickly left for the Great Hall, cloak trailing behind me. The oak doors were opened for me by a kind boy from Ravenclaw who smiled at me as I passed him. Smiling back, I whispered my thanks and crossed the Great Hall for the drink table. Gathering myself some butterbeer, I strolled along the outer edges, half hoping someone would ask me to dance. When no one did, I slipped out onto the balcony that overlooked the grounds.

The new moon left the night darker than usual, and the stars were particularly bright. The one thing I loved about the night: the stars. Always glimmering, always shining, no matter what happened on earth. They always shone, no matter what. I sighed and placed my hands on the stone railing of the balcony and looked up at the stars, trying to find my constellation, Sagittarius. I was so caught up in what I was doing, that I didn't notice another person join me on the balcony. It was only when he spoke that I realized I wasn't alone.

"Nice night." he said. I turned to face the speaker and found himlooking up at the sky, hands in his pokets. He stood at the other end of the balcony, only a few yards away. "Beautiful. Even the stars are acting particularly special tonight." He pointed to a shooting star that was dancing across the heavens.

"Perfect." I whispered in response, turning back to face the edge of the balcony. The next time I looked at him, he was standing next to me, with his arms on the balcony railing, leaning on it. His hair came down to his chin, and was as black as mine, but his eyes were a blue hue. He stood a good few inches taller than me, but when he leaned on the railing, we were almost identical in height. I could tell he was quite handsome, even in the dim light.

"Tired of your date?" he asked me, looking me in the eye.

"No, I came alone." I replied pulling my cloak tighter on my shoulders as the frigid air whipped through my hair.

"Oh. I would have thought a girl as pretty as yourself would have gotten a date in no time." he smiled, looking out at the Forbidden Forest.

"No. I'm new, so I don't really know anyone. What about you?"

"My date's dancing with some other boy. I told her I didn't want to dance to a fast song, so she took it as an insult and walked off." he said, still smiling. I nodded and looked out to the Forbidden Forest as well.

"So, you haven't danced yet?" he asked. I shook my head, grabbing for the cloak which had slipped out of my fingers. I pulled it closer to my shoulders as he added "Well, we'll just have to fix that then." He backed up a foot, bowed, and offered his hand to me. I couldn't refuse such a polite boy. I put my hand in his and he led me back into the Great Hall. A slow song was playing so he held my hand, placed my other hand on his shoulder and his on my waist.

We swayed back and forth to the beat, in unison with all the other couples on the dance floor. The other couples seemed to fade away as he pulled me a little closer halfway through the song. I lay my head on his chest and felt the firmess in him turn to tenderness as he smiled at me once more. The song ended to quickly for my tastes and we split as a fast song filtered throughout the room. Not taking his hand out of mine, he led me away from the dance floor onto a different balcony. This one was much bigger and had a better view of the grounds.

"That was wonderful" I said at last, breaking the silence as he finally took his hand away.

"Ya, it was wasn't it. Thanks for dancing with me." he said, stepping a few feet away and looking out at the grounds once more. "You know," he added. "You are much more than I thought you were when I saw you at the Gryffindor table on your first day. I saw asmart girl who would show everybody up on the OWL's as well as be a hinderance to mischief maker's like myself. Kind of like Evans." He turned to me and took a step towards me. "But you aren't. You're more than that. You're helpful to the students who don't understand something, and you're the one who is always there for someone when they need it."By now he wasstandingright in front of me.

_Buh bump. Buh bump. Buh bump._

My heart rate was skyrocketing as he drew closer. He leaned forward, eyes only inches away from my own and continued to speak.

He smiled as another slow song drifted out into the balcony. "Dance with me." he added, pulling me into his arms before I had a chance to react. My head returned to his shoulder, and we swayed, all alone this time, to the distant music that filtered out from the Hall.

No one could see us. No one could hear us. We were alone, and in each others arms. We danced.

The ribbon fell out of my hair, letting the locks fall down to my shoulder, almost identical to the boy's. I didn't know his name, but that didn't matter. We were together, that was all that I cared about at this moment in time. The last note of the song wavered and ended as I looked up into his face. He smiled and leaned to whisper in my ear.

"You're not perfect. But you're pretty damn near close." he said. He leaned in to hug me, but pulled away before he could do so. A voice was calling "Sirius? Sirius? Where are you?". The boy glanced my way one last time before he started toward the balcony entrance.

I had one chance.

"Sirius? Wait." I called. He turned and smiled at me. I ran toward him and took his hand. "Don't go. I don't want this night to end. This has been too wonderful to let fall down the cracks, Sirius."

"I feel the same way" he replied, turning back toward me. He reached out a hand to my cheek and leaned toward my face. Seconds seemed like hours as his lips made contact with mine. The warmth of his touch spread throughout my entire body. My hands instinctively reached over his shoulders and around his neck.

This must be heaven I thought. I didn't want the night to end. I wanted to be in Sirius' arms forever. I wanted to feel his soft lips touch mine and stay there for as long as they possibly could. What was going on around us had no meaning now. The balcony, the Great Hall, other students-all dissolved during that one kiss. When we finally broke apart, Sirius smiled at me, both hands in mine. Neither of us cared that the dance had ended. Neither of us cared that at that moment a teacher was coming to give us a detention for not being in our dormitories. Neither of us cared about anything except this moment.

We were together. The one chance had saved all. We were together.

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((Alrighty! This is my dream date with a guy, it is sooo awsome. Reviews always welcome. Please also take a look at my other story, The True Marauders. It has to do with the same characters, and I think allHarry Potter fans willlike it!)) 


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